When
Emily Wayborn goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show,
she receives a voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two
were once notorious partygirls, they haven't spoken in years. Although the
message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily
recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during
their wild days. And what's more chilling that the voicemail: it turns out that
Amber has gone missing. Determined to track down her friend,
Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve
Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now,
in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and
discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled
with him, she finds she's drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to
Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she's forced to
choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and
saving her heart?

He’d been watching me at the Expo, then. Before he’d come outside after me.

His question about Chris was spoken casually, but it was purposeful. A more naïve woman might have missed it, but I was too experienced with men like him. He wanted me to know that I was in his sightline. That this was what it meant to be part of his life. That he would monitor me, if he felt like it; he’d rule me. And he expected me to submit.

I couldn’t decide if that freaked me out or thrilled me.

So I played coy. “He’s an actor. We’ve worked together on occasion. I guess we’re friends.”

I walked into the kitchen and got a glass from the cupboard. Chewing my lip, I filled it with filtered water from the sink and debated full disclosure regarding Chris…It was a long shot, but since I hoped to contact Chris for more information about Missy at some point, I decided the less I said the better.

I drank some of my water then set the glass down and leaned across the counter to watch Reeve. His fingers trailed across the spines. I couldn’t see the exact books, so I tried to think what was there. My Katherine Hepburn autobiography. My copy of Rebecca.

He stopped and pulled one from the shelf then flipped through it lazily. This one I recognized from the cover. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, one of my coffee table books. I collected them and had so many that most lived on my bookshelf rather than on my coffee table.This particular book was a printing of blog posts that shared secrets anonymously. Parts of it read like my diary, and I’d marked several pages with Post-it notes so I could easily come back to them. Reading it had always felt comforting.

Seeing it in Reeve’s hands, though, wasn’t comforting. He flipped through the pages, stopping on the ones I’d tagged. Chuckling at some. Growing somber at others. At one, he lifted his head toward me and nodded slightly as if confirming what he’d just thought, what he’d just read.

I ran through several confessions I knew by heart, trying to imagine which it had been—

“Again and again. Used.”

“I’m more scared of court than I was when he almost killed me.”

“I would do absolutely anything in the whole world if I thought it would make her happy.”

Whichever ones he was reading, any of them—all of them—were private. Too private for him to know spoke to me. Yet, I didn’t stop him. I let him sink one layer deeper under my skin.

It was bad enough that he was in my apartment—in an apartment that I paid for myself. His presence reminded me of a time when everything I owned had been given to me by men. The things I had now, though small in number and worth, were all mine.

Trying to distract myself from the anxiety Reeve’s invasion caused, I asked, “Why do you want to know about Chris anyway? Do you want me to fix you up? He’s got a fiancé, you know.”

Reeve shot me a glare. “Cute.”

He put the book back on my shelf and moved toward me. When he reached the counter, he said, “Chris doesn’t look at you like he has a fiancé.”

Ah. I’d forgotten Reeve was a jealous man. Or I’d underestimated the depth of his envy. Strangely, it was a fairly common trait of the kind of men I’d involved myself with in the past, the kind of men who had everything. I knew how to pander to them, knew what to say to put their insecurities to rest. No one could ever be man enough to compare with you, I’d say. It might have been what Reeve was looking for in regards to Chris.

But I couldn’t bring myself to give it to him. “A lot of men don’t look at me like they have a fiancé.”

Reeve leaned across the opposite side of the counter so we were face-to-face. “I don’t like that.”

Jealousy was generally boring, yet, on Reeve, it was fascinating. And, I suspected, dangerous. “You don’t? What are you going to do about it? Lock me up and never let me out in public?”

“I have some nice secluded resorts I think you’d like. My island properties are so beautiful you’ll forget you’re in a prison.”

He flashed his dimple. It was subtle, only noticeable when he smiled in a certain way, the way he was smiling now. And his eyes…I’d thought they were blue, but now I saw green flecks. They caught in the light. They caught me in them, made me feel warm. Made me feel trapped.

I stood up straight, distancing myself without moving away. “Look at you. Acting as if you have some claim to me. I think I already blew you off the other night.”

“Look at you, acting as if I’m a person that you blow off. I think I already warned you about me.” He was teasing as I’d been. But he wasn’t all at the same time.

My heart skipped a beat. “Another threat?”

“If you want it to be.” He looked at me like he had earlier—that intent way that saw through me, into me. Saw all my dark parts.

His eyes sparked, and with that simple phrase, we entered into an agreement. He would have me. He would fuck me. He would bring me into his world.

And in return I’d let him break me.

Get ready
ladies and gentlemen, First Touch is going to twist your mind! The suspense is
consuming, the relationships are real, and the outcome is one you won’t see
coming! Fantastic writing that keeps you captivated until the end.

I am still
thinking about this story and it’s been days between the time I have finished
and the time now writing my thoughts. I can’t even begin to express how much
this book was all wrapped up in my head while I was reading. My thoughts and judgments were across the spectrum and back. I wanted to dislike the heroine but
I couldn’t stop respecting her for being so strong to who she really is, even
with consequence. I wanted to scream at the alpha male for being so blinding
but I wanted to find that vulnerability; anxious with trepidation, waiting to
see when I would pass over the words that was sure to make me love him.

The suspense
that had me in knots from the beginning to end with Emily’s efforts to find her
estranged best friend Amber was insane. Emily had started to turn her life into
a new direction. A first start to something more that she can love about
herself. For once. She was doing well as she could be and I dare say she was
even happy in some way. But when she hears that call that sends chills through
her from head to toe, she can’t just let it go and does what she knows best to
help her friend. The only obstacle is Reeve Sallis. Powerful in his own right,
Reeve has a reputation that ensures everyone stays in their place. And that
place is far from him. Almost untouchable, Reeve is captivated by Emily but
also knows the game and plays it well. Always rules with him, it seems that
Emily and Reeve are each other’s best opponents until things start to get real.
Feelings start. Secrets and lies are already swarming around their heads making
their relationship one that either will be stronger or one that will be
dangerously destroyed.

And this is where
I say, HOLY BATMAN, I didn’t know what I wanted to happen. I wasn’t sure if I
wanted to see the façade stay in place or if I needed the truth to come to a
head just to see how Emily and Reeve would react to it. The anticipation to
everything, OMG!! I was spastic! Dom/sub traits and expressions were true to
form, and so freaking hot in a sure to debase way. Reeve is sure to give
pleasure! At this point I will suggest that if any reader has issues with
violence, sexual aggression, and abuse in the physical way that I would tread
lightly but I would personally like to gently guide you along First Touch
because the story itself even with the grittiness is a really great story and
one that I recommend EVERYONE to read! Most of the raw situations are talked
about in past tense. Gah! I loved First Touch when I was reading and I am
loving it still! The twists and turns in this book will sure to keep you on
your toes, chewing on your fingernails, knees bouncing, engrossed while being
led through the story. I am shaking with
anticipation with what’s to come. Thank you to Laurelin Paige for the opportunity
to read an early advanced copy. I enjoyed it more than words can say!

Laurelin
Paige is the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author of
the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime
there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband
doesn't seem to complain, however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy
stories, she's probably singing, watching Game of Thrones and the Walking Dead,
or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She's also a proud member of Mensa International
though she doesn't do anything with the organization except use it as material
for her bio.